New research from the Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions places workplace mental health and wellbeing at a tipping point, with employers increasingly reviewing their activities in supporting employee mental health and wellbeing.

1. At a tipping point?
Workplace mental health and wellbeing
March 2017

2. The Impact of mental health on employees, employers
and society
The
importance of
mental health
and wellbeing
•• In 2015-16 there were 488,000 reported cases of work-related stress, anxiety or depressioni
•• 77 per cent of employees have experienced symptoms of poor mental health in their livesii
•• Mental ill health has negative impact on physical healthiii
•• The total cost of mental ill health to UK employers was estimated at £26 billion, costing £1,035 per employee, per year in 2007iv
•• Only 2 in 5 employees are working at peak performanceii
•• Studies suggest that presenteeism from mental ill health alone costs the UK economy £15.1 billion per annum, in what is almost
twice the business cost as actual absence from workiv
•• Mental health (not specific to workplace wellbeing) costs the UK £70 billion each year, equivalent to 4.5 per cent of GDPv
•• Mental health is a growing cause of incapacity benefitsvi
•• Evidence shows that poor mental health increases the costs of physical ill healthiii
Sources: (i) Health and Safety Executive, Work related stress, anxiety and depression statistics in Great Britain 2016, HSE, 2016; (ii) Mental health at Work Report 2016, Business in the Community, 2016; (iii) Bringing together physical and mental health, a new frontier
for integrated care, The King’s Fund, 2016; (iv), Mental health at work: developing the business case, Centre for Mental Health, 2007; (v) Mental health and work, OECD, 2014; (vi) Mental illness 'top reason to claim incapacity benefit‘, BBC news, 2011
Impact on
employees
Impact on
employers
Impact on
society
2

3. The challenges in improving workplace mental health
and wellbeing
Failure to see mental health
and wellbeing as a priority
Mental health and wellbeing
policies are reactive and driven
by staff events or experience, not
proactive and preventative
Lack of insight around current
performance (including recruitment,
retention and presenteeism)
Poor evidence base to
measure return on investment
of wellbeing strategies
Lack of collective knowledge
of best practice
1 2 3
4 5
Source: Deloitte research, analysis and interviews

4. Actions for employers
Take stock
and monitor
performance
Create buy-in for
the case for change
and investment
Implement key
initiatives
Evaluate
programmes
and promote
success
Get mental health and
wellbeing on the agenda

5. Actions for employees
Speak up
Engage with their
own health
Support
colleagues

6. Actions for society and the state
Form strategic partnerships
Invest in research and an improved evidence base
Support of workplace wellbeing initiatives
Get the incentives right

7. “By investing in improved support for employee
mental health, we believe that the employee gains;
the employer gains; and the economy gains.
We expect that by 2025 employee mental health
will be a significantly more common theme in
corporate reporting and that the actions that
have helped make this a reality will have been
promoted by all interested stakeholders.”

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for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.
Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of DTTL.
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